T42p: Screen broke $800 to fix it :( [Update]

Message

ndee · #1 Post by **ndee** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:16 am

Hello there,
I was a happy owner of a T42p until last week. When I booted up my notebook, on the right side, I noticed some pixel errors. It was on the right edge, about 5pixel wide, and went until the middle of the right side. Like a 5pixel white bar, plus there was a black half-circle on the screen, about 10pixels wide, at the middle of that edge.
Now, I brought the notebook into a service center and they told me, it seems like the notebook was hit hard and the screen kinda cracked. To be honest, I couldn't remember when the notebook was hit so hard, that it would be cracked. Anyway, the guy told me it costs about $800(CHF 1000) to fix that.
Does the warranty not cover such damage? What are my options? Do you guys think the insurance would pay for something like that?

Thanks for any input.

UPDATE(Regarding the not so nice screen): Just called Lenovo. The guy told me that they are using three different companies for the panels and there are quality differences. There's nothing he can do, I might call the repair center and maybe they can do something.

I mean the screen before was really really nice and now, it's really noticeable that the panel isn't the same quality. No way I will put up with that.[/img]

cmarti · #2 Post by **cmarti** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:33 am

Is it 15 or 14.1 inch model sxga xga or uxga? You could get the screen at ebay and install it your self.

ndee · #3 Post by **ndee** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:40 am

cmarti wrote:Is it 15 or 14.1 inch model sxga xga or uxga? You could get the screen at ebay and install it your self.

It's a 14.1 inch SXGA. Gonna check ebay although.... although... bleh.

#4 Post by **bill bolton** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:44 am

ndee wrote:Does the warranty not cover such damage?

No, it doesn't. Its a warranty, not an insurance policy.

Cheers,

Bill

ndee · #5 Post by **ndee** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:47 am

I might just leave it the way it is. It would be a little bit annoying but oh well, I could live with it.

cmarti · #6 Post by **cmarti** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:57 am

I buy mine at $200.00us on ebay new and it is an 14.1 SXGA+.

Here is one for $100.00us and comes complete with the lcd.

eBay link

Mod Edit - URL to short form. Was going off the screen even on my 1280x1024 desktop display :p - K. Eng

brentpresley · #7 Post by **brentpresley** » Tue May 30, 2006 6:37 am

cmarti wrote:I buy mine at $200.00us on ebay new and it is an 14.1 SXGA+.

Here is one for $100.00us and comes conplete with the lcd.

Link deleted, just some friendly cleanup! - K. Eng

That is XGA, not SXGA.

cmarti · #8 Post by **cmarti** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:01 am

brentpresley wrote:
cmarti wrote:I buy mine at $200.00us on ebay new and it is an 14.1 SXGA+.

Here is one for $100.00us and comes conplete with the lcd.

That is XGA, not SXGA.

I know that i was just giving him a cheap option.

ndee · #9 Post by **ndee** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:47 pm

OK, just got my screen replaced. I don't know but to me it seems like this new display isn't as good. At the bottom, it's just ALOT brighter than everywhere else on the screen, is that normal? It's really noticeable if the screen should be dark. Any suggestions?

#10 Post by **K. Eng** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 9:46 pm

I'd call up Lenovo and complain. It sounds to me like the backlight might not be properly installed.

ndee · #11 Post by **ndee** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:37 am

UPDATE: Just called Lenovo. The guy told me that they are using three different companies for the panels and there are quality differences. There's nothing he can do, I might call the repair center and maybe they can do something.

I mean the screen before was really really nice and now, it's really noticeable that the panel isn't the same quality. No way I will put up with that.

christopher_wolf · #12 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:26 pm

ndee wrote:UPDATE: Just called Lenovo. The guy told me that they are using three different companies for the panels and there are quality differences. There's nothing he can do, I might call the repair center and maybe they can do something.

I mean the screen before was really really nice and now, it's really noticeable that the panel isn't the same quality. No way I will put up with that.

It sounds like you have a problem with the LCD itself rather than a few pixels, the only thing is that if it was induced by damage to the laptop and didn't appear as a a manfucaturing defect from the beginning.

IDTech, Hydis, and Samsung are, I think, the three LCD panel manufacturers; they each have their own little, uh, unique features.

ndee · #13 Post by **ndee** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:50 am

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. I got the LCD replaced at the Repair center(original problem solved). Took the Notebook back home and then started the notebook and noticed the higher contrast(at the bottom) at the moment it booted. I couldn't test the notebook at the repair center, because I took the battery and harddisk out.

Can't I just replace the screen until I get a "normal" one? I think for such an expensive notebook, I can expect a better display, or at least the same quality like I was used to(for 2 years).

systemBuilder · #14 Post by **systemBuilder** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:16 am

My son jumped on our T42 (has all the parts of a T42p except the FireGL), destroying the screen. We didn't expect THIS to happen so we didn't have an accidental damage warranty, but we DID have a 4-year extended warranty. I bought a new screen from Malaysia for $200 + $40 shipping (SXGA+), it was a Samsung so the quality was not as good as the original Hydis, which I struggled mightily to acquire. Oh well. At least $240 is less than the accidental damage warranty cost. And a Hydis screen from a reputable shop would have been $480 - not a price premium I was willing to pay.

Installation was a bear! I attempted to close the device about 6 times before I got all the wires "just right" including the latch (which is really a flimsy piece of cr*p...) so that the plastic would snap shut!! What should have been a 30-minute job ended up being 2.5 hours. Finally, I got it back together. For the $360 savings (vs. a normal non-IBM repair center), I think it was worth the price.

Just so you know - a LCD Flourescent backlight is manufactured INTO the LCD - an installer CANNOT get "the backright installed wrong" since the LCD is a sealed unit which includes the backlight, and its major brain surgery to change a backlight inside an LCD.

If IBM is willing to do a second replacement for your laptop, I'd go for it, but you never know you might even get something worse with dead pixels or something. I kinda think that because all the pixels are working and the backlight is working, they will balk at doing another replacement. Here is the website that helped me to perform the screen replacement:

http://justinsomnia.org/2005/02/replaci ... cd-screen/

The ebay seller "itthinker" sold me the screen.

good luck.

TheOnys · #15 Post by **TheOnys** » Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:20 pm

ndee wrote:Took the Notebook back home and then started the notebook and noticed the higher contrast(at the bottom) at the moment it booted.

I recently had my screen replaced as well. I noticed this same thing as well as what seems to be a slower response time but I chalked it up to faulty memories since I had been without my thinkpad for close to 4 months. It's good to know I'm not going crazy

neomuzic · #16 Post by **neomuzic** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 7:53 pm

Hi, I just got a new display for mine, how do you remove the old and install the new???

Thanks!

EOMtp · #17 Post by **EOMtp** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:10 pm

Read starting at Page 114:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... 9t6193.pdf

crashnburn · #18 Post by **crashnburn** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:19 pm

Interesting.

T42p: Screen broke $800 to fix it :( [Update]

T42p: Screen broke $800 to fix it :( [Update]

Re: T42p: Screen broke $800 to fix it :(

Hi

Who is online